Land Alienation of Tribes in North East India

KAMENG DORJEE

Land is the prime need for all human beings BUT unfortunately in North East India in the name of “Forest Policy” the Govt of India has acquired tribal land & is gradually pushing out the indigenous tribes out of their age-old habitats.

Every time the land of a tribal community has been acquired for some project of the Govt they have been paid “cash compensation” – realizing pretty well that they have no respect for cash & stacking a few rupees is not a part of the tribe cultural ethos.

Besides, while the land is acquired, if it is for an industry, there is a promise for a “job”, so when the tribes while away the “cash compensation” , they survive on a “promised job”, which is never delivered as the job offer is turned down citing that the tribes do not have sufficient skills. The land is lost forever & there are no jobs!

At the same time, certain politicians & agencies of the Govt have been very keen to facilitate settlement of Illegal Bangladeshis, this has created a lot of controversial issues & does not seem to end, though at the moment Assam & Tripura are the worst affected a trend of Bangladeshi illegal settlers moving to Manipur & Nagaland is being witnessed. The condition of the fencing of Indo-Bangladesh border is best left unsaid.

Today, Bangladeshi illegals are found almost in every part of the North East Region.

To preserve the unique cultural identity of the Tribes of North east India, the land alienation activities conducted under the supervision of the Govt, its officials & their agents must STOP with immediate effect!

If the Govt is keen to “develop” the tribes then its has to be done in a cautious way & taking into consideration the tribal way of functioning, their value systems, morals etc. Emphasis should be laid on overall socio-cultural development & not merely on material advancement.

Thus the Govt of India needs to address the land alienation issue when drawing up any “plans” or launching welfare “schemes” for tribal development.

(The author is a freelance writer and is currently based in Mumbai and works in the field of Hospitality. He can be contacted at history.travel@gmail.com)

ATs in Lower Dibang Valley points out pay anomalies

ROING, Dec 1: Pointing out pay anomalies in the implementation of 6th CPC (Revised Pay) Rule 2008 for Assistant Teachers, the 150 strong community of ATs in Lower Dibang Valley convened a meeting in Govt Middle School Rayang on Nov 28. The meeting chaired by Boa Tama, UDC, Dept of Education, Lower Dibang Valley District decided to form an action committee to fight for the rights of aggrieved teachers serving across the district.

They pointed out that after the implementation of the 6th CPC recommendation in the state, the revised scale of the AT should have been 5500 but now it had fallen short of 500 in the present scale as paid to the teachers. It was felt that the pay anomalies should be revised and the pay scale should be fixed at 5500 which is as per the central pay commission recommendation.

Further to carry forward the demands of the teachers, the house appointed Hindu Meme, AT as Secretary with Rijabe Meto, AT, BK Ojha and SK Tamang as advisors of the committee to take up the cause further for fulfillment of their genuine demands.

The house resolved to seek cooperation from CoSAAP and ATA from other districts in mobilizing support in fulfilling the genuine demands of all ATs across the state. However in case, the parent organizations failed to lend support to the cause then the house decided that it will have no other option but to knock the door of justice.

A subsequent meeting was held today in the town for further course of action.

Medical Sub-Centres at Rukmo and Abali village inaugurated

AJAY SARING, DIPRO

ROING, NOV 30: Two Medical Sub-Centres were inaugurated at Rukmo and Abali Village of Lower Dibang Valley District today. Talem Tapok, State Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission(NRHM) inaugurated the Sub-Centre at Rukmo Village, the south-eastern most village of Lower Dibang Valley District located at around 22 km from the district headquarter, Roing. The other sub-centre at Abali Village was inaugurated by Tajum Basar, Director of Health Services. The sub-centres of Semi RCC Type were constructed at the cost of Rs 9 Lakhs each under NRHM and executed by the DRDA Roing. DMO Dr Atlok Yirang informed that the buildings were constructed as per the NRHM specification with four rooms consisting of an OPD Room, Examination Room, Labour Room attached with ANM’s quarters with toilet and bathroom provisions. One ANM staff were also posted to each Sub-Centre to look after them.

Dr T Basar, Director Health Services and Talom Tapok, Mission Director, NRHM in a public meeting held at Abali has combinedly expressed satisfaction on the execution and quality of the work and exhorted the executing agency and the contractor to carry the same spirit of dedication and sincerity for the welfare of the people. Terming it as the public property, they appealed the people to take care and maintain the infrastructure and make it to grow as PHC in near future to serve the diseased people of the area. Dr Basar also appealed the people to make themselves aware of dreaded diseases like AIDS and to keep themselves hygienic and clean to prevent spread of various contagious diseases. Dr Basar has further assured to post Health Assistant to each Sub-Centre soon as demanded by the public of the two villages.

Y W Ringu, DC Roing informing that Primary Health Centre of Iduli Village is temporarily running in the Girls Hostel of Middle School, Iduli which is creating an imbroglio for the administration as the same is wanted back by the education department has requested the visiting dignitaries from the state capital to sanction and allocate fund for the construction of a separate building for said PHC. Citing of shortage of doctors in the district as two PHCs are look after by one doctor she further requested them to post sufficient doctors in the district and also the man power to handle the various modern medical equipments lying unused in the district hospital.

Earlier, Anjite Menjo, ZPM Iduli Anchal Block submitted a memorandum for creation and posting of Health Assistants, Chowkidhar cum Sweeper to each sub-centre and also for provision of fund for construction of security fencing around the centres. It is also to mention that Smti Chupuru Tayu, Gaon Burih has donated the land for construction of Sub-Centre at Rukmo and Japani Meto has donated the land for Abali Sub-Centre. The dignitaries also visited the Girls Hostel turned PHC at Iduli Village for finding solution to the administration imbroglio. The visiting dignitaries were accompanied by M. Pertin, EAC, T. Tatak, PD DRDA, EE RWD, Dr M Basar, DRCHO and other Medical Officers of District Hospital and Panchayat Leaders of Iduli Anchal Block.